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Title: The Rose Rent
Series: Brother Cadfael #13
Author: Ellis Peters
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 239
Format: Digital Edition
| Synopsis: |
A young widow, the owner of a well to do business, gave a house she owned to the Abby, on the condition that they pay a “rent” of one white rose on the anniversary of her husband’s death. Should the rose not be delivered or the widow not be able to take it, the Abby forfeits the house and it reverts back to the widow.
She is pressed on all sides by suitors but when a young monk is killed and the rose bush burnt, things have moved into serious territory. Then when the widow disappears and another man shows up dead, Cadfael must solve what is going on before the widow ends up dead. Things have a happy ending when Cadfael solves the mystery and the widow ends up with the local leather worker who is a widower with a young daughter.
| My Thoughts: |
Not really much to say about these. First off, it’s a Mystery and that’s not my go-to genre so I’m pretty meh about it. Second, it is a Cadfael mystery, so there’s a lot of just kind of hanging around while things happen. Being a monk really cramps his style.
There is a lot of descriptive stuff that I simply blew by. I just didn’t care. I’m sure it set the tone but that was lost on me.
Cadfael is a literary palate cleanser for me. It is well written, I don’t expect much and it delivers just enough to keep me happy. Kind of like those baskets of bread rolls at restaurants that you munch on before your food arrives.
★★★☆☆
Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road 
Cadfael is run-of-the-mill crime fiction…
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Does it even fall into “crime fiction” though? Is mystery part of that? My ideas about crime fiction are of modern’ish day gritty stuff with noirish detectives and police. I guess I’d need you to define Crime Fiction…
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It is a strange thought – at first cerebral glance – but are the flesh and blood people we only see through the prism of the TV screen still that more real to us than the characters we engage with (especially long time) in the books we read? The more our politicians and other public figures disengage from us, by talking through auto-cues and having each part of their public appearance and actions designed and directed by professional manipulators, the more we perceive them as unreal – and with good reason.
It might seem strange that fiction writers may become more influential public figures these days but human beings throughout history have always had (appointed) human figureheads that spoke in the name of their Gods and/or in the name of the more earthly establishment.
In a way that is what the popularity of opinion pages in newspapers (and the talking heads on TV) are all about: the voices of the few that inform and influence the masses. It’s how the human animal builds all their societies: the many follow the few.
I would say there are far worse bellwethers (or if you want to be unkind: Judas goats) than fiction writers but as an avid reader of novels I admit I’m prejudiced.
Coming back to the question. Right now detectives may be more widespread but that is, I think, simply a reflection of these particular times and has nothing to do with the detective novel as genre an sich. Agatha Christie certainly did not write Crime Fiction. If Crime Fiction by its nature reflects the fragility of our societies, detective novels are in the end all about order. Murder is one of the most extreme forms of turbulence and chaos within our societies; solving a murder case is about restoring that order. In that sense detective novels are a conformist genre while crime fiction is its non-conformist counterpart.
One person’s entertainment is another person’s snore. The beauty of the genre is that it is a broad church, so to speak.
NB: Have you already embarked on the P. D. James Journey? The book are both detective and crime fiction, if you get my drift… and they’re one hell of a blast!
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Crime is not my thing. I can tolerate mysteries ok, but getting into a deeper probing of such brokenness doesn’t appeal to me. When I finish up the Cadfael series I will ask you what to do for another mystery/crime series and you can recommend one then. I hope I can remember that 😀
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P.D. James.
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Yeah, well, considering that I’ve still got 7 or 8 more Cadfael books and it takes about 2 months to cycle through, I’ve got a lot of time before I get around to another Crime Fest. I’ll try to remember to ask you again when the time comes…
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Forget Cadfael. Adam Dalglish is the one… I’ve got a hunch you’ll like it big.
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I guess we’ll see next year…
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Sometimes we do need simpler, straightforward books – to clean the palate, as you say, or to rest the mind between more demanding stories.
And books such as this one seem to be what we need… 🙂
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There are times that I LOVE Cadfael. There are times that I NEED Cadfael. Then there are times that I need Cadfael but am pretty meh about it.
It is kind of like pizza actually…
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ROTFLMAO!!! Now, thanks to you, the next time I will eat pizza I will see Derek Jacobi’s face floating above it… 😀 😀
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Good thing I used pizza then!
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hahaha only problem is I tend to have a problem filling up on those free rolls before I even order- I have no self control 😉
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Always a surprise to see anything other than sci-fi/fantasy with you. 😛 I guess loads of description + being a monk pretty much go together..
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Even readers need their veggies. That is what this series feels like. And it is a good change of pace for me, even if I’m not always enamoured of it.
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I don’t normally read mysteries either, but I have a few suggestions:
I enjoyed Tarquin Hall’s mysteries set in India. I listened to them in audio and thought the Indian accents added to the experience.
“Your turn, Mr. Moto”, which I believe was written before WW2, shows some interesting character attitudes. I’m hoping to blog about it when I get some extra time, and to read some more Mr. Moto books.
I’ve enjoyed the “No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” books, but some of that may be nostalgia for my time in southern Africa. The accents in the audio help these ones out as well.
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